An exploration of the 1897 Red River Valley League with teams from Fargo, Grand Forks, Moorhead, and Wahpeton-Breckenridge. The league featured future major league players, local heroes, reckless characters, economic unrest, and spirited rivalries.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

An Exciting Game in a Different Era

After another exhibition win on July
5 and a rainout of a league game on the 6th, Fargo returned to
regular action against Grand Forks, visiting the Senators’ park for a four game
series. Playing some of their best ball of the season, hopes were high for the
Divorcees. A fine matchup was in store for the
cranks that day, as Deacon Phillippe faced Senator ace Charlie Hutton. A
collision in the previous series with Wahpeton gave Hutton a stiff arm, but it did
not seem to bother Grand Forks’ young talent. The crafty lefty struck out the
side in the third inning on his way to seven punch outs against just one walk. Each team scored once in the fifth inning,
but in the sixth Grand Forks scored twice and the Divorcees just once to claim
a 3-2 lead. Neither team put a run across the plate in the seventh or eighth
inning. Entering the ninth, Fargo needed one run to tie and two runs to win.
Unlike modern day games, the home team did not always bat last in the Red River
Valley League of 1897. On that day, the Divorcees came to bat last with a
chance for a walk-off win. Two men were out when Josh Reilly strode confidently
to the plate and knocked a single into center field.* Following the Fargo
second sacker was the pitcher Phillippe, who came to the plate batting 0 for 9
for the season. The Deacon picked a fine time for his first hit. Hutton put one
over the center of the plate, and Phillippe clobbered it over the right field fence
for a game-ending two-run homerun. The Grand Forks fans were stunned. Phillippe’s
clutch hit, his quality pitching, and a fine defensive performance led the
Fargo club to a win in the opener. (Forum July 8).

*(Reilly, before his at
bat, rubbed the head of Fargo’s mascot Oscey Gordon for good luck. To
understand Reilly’s action, it is first helpful to be aware that the conception
of a mascot in that era was far different from what it is today. Frank
Fitzpatrick explains it this way: “The (mascot) custom grew out of a
patronizing society's ignorant belief that the more socially outcast one was,
the greater his worth as a good-luck charm. Humpbacks; dwarfs; those with
crossed eyes; the mentally ill; and, of course, blacks and Indians were widely
seen as talismans. It wasn't long until superstitious sports teams were cruelly
using them for that purpose.” This description surely fit Fargo’s mascot Oscey Gordon,
who was black, probably a child, with a full head of hair. Reilly’s action of rubbing
the black boy’s head was commonly believed to bring good luck and was a tactic even
employed by the great hitter and notorious racist Ty Cobb.)“The disturbing
history of baseball's mascots” Philadelphia Enquirer online – June 22, 2014 http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20140622_Giving__Em_Fitz__The_disturbing_history_of_baseball_s_mascots.html